Police, Fire & Courts

Downed Plane in Boca Raton Park, Will Be ‘Winched’ by Crane and Hauled Away

by
Daniel Nee
August 23, 2026

Crews were at Silver Palm Park and boat ramp in Boca Raton on Sunday, preparing a twin-engine airplane that went down in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, to be winched by a crane and hauled away on a flatbed. The plane was towed to the boat ramp before being parked, with its gear down and a slab of concrete underneath, in the parking lot there.

The mechanics and loadmasters worked in the parking lot of Silver Palm Park all day Sunday, near the city’s boat ramp, to remove parts of the Piper PA-39 – a relatively rare variant of the popular PA-30 “Twin Comanche” with counter-rotating propellers – and drain its fuel tanks before it will be lifted by the crane, onto a flatbed truck, and taken to a hangar for inspection and salvage. Two employees of the Federal Aviation Administration were present, but said they were unable to comment on the crash and were there simply to monitor the salvage as part of their investigation. The airplane crashed just yards off the beach in Boca Raton’s barrier island portion on Saturday morning at about 9:40 a.m.

A Piper Twin Comanche PA-39 (PA-30 variant) at a boat ramp in Boca Raton, FL, being prepared to be removed by a crane after landing in the ocean, Aug. 23, 2026. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

The elevator was removed by the time Boca Daily News photographed the Piper on Sunday, and one of its two naturally aspirated Lycoming had been removed from the wing nacelle on which it hung. The other engine was in the process of being removed before the plane was due to be lifted. An employee of a private company involves in the salvage effort said the pilot of the plane lost one engine – likely due to a fuel issue – and glided down for a water landing with both engines turned off. The propellers of one engine were “feathered,” meaning its blades were turned into the wind to stop them from spinning after the shutdown, while the other engine had its propellers facing the in the normal direction for flight.

A Piper Twin Comanche PA-39 (PA-30 variant) at a boat ramp in Boca Raton, FL, being prepared to be removed by a crane after landing in the ocean, Aug. 23, 2026. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Policy from the FAA calls for a preliminary report to be issued on any plane crash within 30 days, followed by a final report that is normally released in about a year. The pilot in command was identified as Faith Tenkley, 23, who was flying from Fort Meyers to Bimini, Bahamas. The official who spoke to Boca Daily News complimented Tenkley’s performance, saying she intentionally avoided coming into contact with people or boaters, and intentionally ensured her landing gear was in the up position in order to make the water landing as smooth as possible. She also flared back before touching the surface of the ocean, keeping the nose elevated. The nose cone on the aircraft was cracked, and there was a hole near the tail, just ahead of the rudder. Some portions of the tail section had already been removed.

A Piper Twin Comanche PA-39 (PA-30 variant) at a boat ramp in Boca Raton, FL, being prepared to be removed by a crane after landing in the ocean, Aug. 23, 2026. (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Work on the winching and removal effort was stopped during the mid-afternoon on Sunday due to the threat of thunderstorms, as lightning was spotted to the west. It was expected to resume on Monday morning.

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